Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) devices can include various sensors, such as gyroscopes and accelerometers, which can be implemented in various inertial navigation and control system applications. A MEMS gyroscope or accelerometer may include microstructure sense elements such as a proof pass interposed between a pair of sense plates, forming a capacitive sensor.
Glass layers are often utilized as structures in MEMS devices. These glass layers are typically doped, which results in the glass having some conductivity, allowing electrical charges to flow and accumulate on the glass during operation of the MEMS devices. Sometimes it is convenient or necessary to allow uncovered glass to be exposed to the proof mass of a MEMS device such as in a capacitive MEMS sensor. As a result, the effective sensitivity of the device changes as charge is accumulated on the glass during operation. This makes the scale factor, bias, or other performance metrics of the MEMS sensor unreliable.